Air tractor-engine



'A. B. BONE-Y.

'AmTRAcfoR ENGINE.

APPLICATION nuzo FEB; 11. 1919.

1,330,346. Patented Feb. 10,1920

" UNITED STATES. PATENT, OFFICE.

ALEXANDER IB. RONEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

AIR TRACTOR-ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 10, 1920.

Application filed February 17, 1919. Serial No. 277,602.

To all whom it may concem:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER B. RONEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Air Tractor-Engine, of which the following is a specification.

The object relates to the propulsion of aircraft regardless of the direction of the wind.

Figure l is a partial longitudinal section of Fig. 2 on the line (DD).

Fig. 2 is a cross-end view of Fig. 1 on the.

line 0P0 Fig. 3 represents a face view of the perforated plate. The drawings disclose a circular series of reciprocating, pumps (1), a rotary propeller V (2), and an intake plate (3), partially inclosed in a tubular casing (4), havmg one end (5) open with the other end closed, but casing (4) has inlet and outlet 'portways controlled by check valves (7 and 8) that are, in this instance, made of sheet rubber.

The purpose of the pumps is to maintain a steady displacement of the air from said casing out through the portways and past the shaft (9) through the medium of the drum (10). which is fastened to the shaft and is provided with an oblique slotway (11 that is cut around the surface of its periphery and into which the offset ends (12) of the piston rods (13) are meshed between guides;

(14) for engagement with the sides of said slotway, and the propeller (2) also is driven by the same drive shaft (9), which, when operated by a motor, also turns the drum (10) to move the pistons back and forth and thereby'displacing the air on the pressure side of the pistons out through valves and at the same time drawing in air from the casing (4) through valves (7).

The pumps (1) which-are contained in the casing (4) are divided on the line (o -c) into separate half parts to facilitate machining of the cylinders and assemblin of the pistons (15) thereto. VJ hen these half parts are jointed together, the adjacent air spaces (16) between the pumps (11--11) are continuous throughout'the length of oasing (4) from the closed to the open end, and serve as draftways to supply the pistons moving from the closed end with air from;

the open end, which the return stroke discharges out through the check valves situated at the closed end, but draftways (16) are not used for the reverse stroke, which starts at the open end and discharges through the check valves situated at the open, or

propeller end of casing (4).

ated at the closed end of easing (4) on the one hand and the set of check valves situ ated at the open end on the other makes the pumps double acting for each revolution of the drive shaft. I

Now here is a case of pump air displacement matched a ainst rotary propeller air displacement in t e same casing, both driven by the same drive shaft and wherein the pump displacement, being the strongest of the two, prevails and determines that the d1- The draftways- (16) and the extra set of check valves siturection of the air blast shall be on out through the portways.

By these means all the power borrowed from the drive shaftby the propeller to oppose the pumps is recovered'through its reaction against the casing and thereby transpropelling thrust for. the forform'ed into ward propulsion. I claima In an air tractor engine, in combination, a casing having one closed and one open end, a propeller in said-open end, an air pump in said casing adapted to displace the air from the 'rear of said propeller and a means for driving said propeller and said pumps.

- ALEXANDER B. RONEY.

Witnesses: I

J. DAVID LUNDsTRoM, FRANCES BUHR. 

